Direction - Venomous OVA

Direction

Opening his eyes, Seiji finds himself falling into a deep void. He lands on a hard stone floor. "You've been blind for too long. Remember what you stand for." A voice says. "Okay... Can't panic. I'll just go forward. I have to just go forward." Seiji whispers. He holds his sword in his hand as he walks through the barely lit hallways of this medieval-looking place.

In front of Seiji stands a hooded serpent. Seiji dodges a sword slash and quickly dispatches them with a fiery slash. The embers of flame hitting the stone floor. Next to Seiji, a sheath rests on his hip. He puts his sword away. As Seiji walks down the narrow hallway, a crowd of serpents appears. Seiji lifts his sword and puts it back in the sheath.

He walks past the crowd as they all explode into flames. Seiji finds a spiral staircase and creeps up the stairs. Once he reaches the top, he enters a large empty arena-looking room. "To preserve the truth, you must revisit your history." The voice explains. Akui appears in front of Seiji. He fires a rope of string. Seiji steps out of the way and cuts the string.

"You're the one who started this. Why did you do this?" Seiji asks. "You're just like me. You should already know." Akui responds. Seiji stabs Akui and he disappears. "I used to be. But not anymore. I hate myself but I know I'm better than you are. Asshole." Seiji declares. He exits the room and confronts a shadow of Haruto.

"What did you learn from this? Get it right, and the path to the truth will be revealed to you. Get it wrong, and you shall never reach it." He says. "Akui started it all. He was the start of this. I learned that destiny cannot be stopped. For some reason, I was destined to meet and stop him. It was what I was born to do." Seiji proclaims. The shadow of Haruto disappears into the darkness. A pathway manifests. "Guess I was right." Seiji thinks.

Seiji continues down the path to reach another room. This time another familiar face appears. "You're the guy I fought before I met Sato. I forgot your name but... I never thought I would see you again." Seiji declares. Seiji tosses his blade into his chest and burns a hole through him. As he falls over, Seiji picks up his weapon and continues. A shadow saran stands in front of Seiji this time. "What did you learn this time?" She asks.

"I learned... how to trust others. My friends. I learned how to fight." Seiji explains. "These two events have something in common. Keep these events in mind for the future." She explains. A path opens but as it appears, a sword flies at Seiji. He uses his sword to slide the attack to a nearby wall. Seiji blasts fire through the hallway, clearing it. Seiji goes to another floor. But instead, he's greeted by a Shadow Tsubaki.

"Instead of defeating your past, your present is important. Why do you believe you can love someone when you can't love yourself." She says. "I don't know who you think you are but I don't want to be cut off like that. I want to try to love. I can save lives and care about myself. It might be selfish but who cares.  We all get to be selfish. That's just being human." Seiji responds. "Are you human though?" She retorts.

"It depends on your definition. I'm plenty human. At least to me. Whatever the world or that Kenji asshole has to say about doesn't matter. I'm human no matter what." Seiji declares. "You have much grief in your heart though. You have much to blame yourself for. You let Tsubaki get into all of this because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or so she says. And then there's everyone else you've met." She explains.

"None of their lives are worse because of me. I've been told time and time again that they believe in me. I have hundreds of thousands of people rooting for me. If I hide from the truth, I'll never be free." Seiji proclaims. The shadow nods and disappears once more. Seiji goes up to another floor. "This is your hardest trial yet. Face your guilt head-on and the truth shall be unlocked." The voice explains.

Suddenly, a figure appears that takes the form of Sato. Seiji steps back slightly. "You... You aren't real. I know you aren't. But... Why can't I move?" Seiji whispers. The figure starts throwing rapid punches at Seiji. Seiji responds with a slice to the stomach. The sword flies through it. Seiji starts trying fire, hand-to-hand combat, everything he can think of. The attacks do nothing. "You can fight your guilt until you die from it. But is that what you really want?" The voice speaks.

Seiji stares down the shadow Sato. As it goes for another punch, Seiji dodges and hugs him. "I'm so sorry Sato. You deserved so much more than what happened to you. I swear to you that I'll make it up to you." Seiji declares. The shadow fades into light.

"Congratulations. You've figured out what you have to do. The truth I'll bestow upon you is-" the voice instructs.

Seiji's eyes shoot open as he sits up in bed.

"That's the truth huh... Fuck." Seiji whispers.

OVA - Direction
The End